Athens hosts international conference on Parthenon Sculptures

The Athenian’s Society is hosting an international conference focusing on the Parthenon Sculptures this Saturday and Sunday at the Acropolis Museum under the aegis of Hellenic Republic President Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

Participating in the conference, entitled "The Parthenon Sculptures: 200 years since their expropriation by the British Museum" will be a host of distinguished Greek and foreign archaeologists, antiquities restorers and legal experts.

The main objective of the conference is to review the results of the latest research and recent developments concerning the Parthenon Sculptures, while it will also bring together for the first time in two decades the representatives of the 14 national committees campaigning for the return of the sculptures to Greece. There will also be elections to renew the operation of International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS).

The new evidence to be presented includes material found in the archives of Lord Elgin concerning the way the sculptures were removed from the Parthenon, the architectural elements that are in the British Museum and the problems in their replacement, the Mentor shipwreck and evidence from Ottoman archives in Istanbul. There will also be a discussion on legal aspects of the case.

The results of the conference will be published and made available to academics, while the programme and audiovisual recordings of the speeches will be available through the Athenians' Society website syllogostonathinaion.gr